3/8
"I had grown up in Texas in these private Christian schools in a very religious environment, and then I had moved out to Los Angeles and lived a very separate life from all those people. I was in LA for three or four years before I started figuring out I was gay. It was easy for me to stay in the closet because I had these two very separate existences.
I definitely would escape into work. One of the reasons it took me so long to figure out if I was gay and to come out – to deal with it in a stable, constructive way – was because I kept so busy at work.
I remember hundreds of times, over the course of a few years, going to the office restroom, peeing and thinking, Oh man, I really gotta figure this gay thing out. And then coming out of the bathroom and oops, back at work, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom – no time to think about it.
We do what we need to survive. And for me, workaholism –it's where I can go in a heartbeat.
I could just hide in work until I couldn't anymore. There was a day when I was just done. I remember my boss noticing how sad I looked. He was like, 'Are you okay?' I said, 'Yes.' He goes, 'I've been around you every day of your life for more than a decade – I know you're not okay. Tell me what's going on.' I told him: 'I'm trying to figure out if I'm gay or not.' That kicked off a new chapter in my relationship with him."
3/8